Foldable receptacle



Jan. 20, 1953 F. G. DOBBS ETAL FOLDABLE RECEPTACLE 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 FiledAug. 15, 1950 INVENTORS. FRANK 6. 00555 BY STEPHA/V 0 56s,

Jan. 20, 1953 Filed Aug. 15, 1950 F. G. DOBBS ET AL 2,625,975

FOLDABLE RECEPTACLE 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTORS: FzA/vK a. 0053s 9 57mmH. 0058;

THE/R Ase/v2:

Patented Jan. 20, 1953 FOLDABLE RECEPTACLE Frank G. Dobbs and Stephan H.Dobbs, New York, N. Y.

Application August 15, 1950, Serial No. 179,426

6 Claims.

1 The invention relates to receptacles and relates more particularly tofoldable receptacles of the wallet or billfold type. Still moreparticularly, the invention relates to such receptacles provided with amovable stay.

Billfolds usually have a pocket that extends across the entire areathereof, and that pocket is formed between the outer wall and an innerwall opposite thereto. The folding of two parallel walls, enclosingbetween themselves a pocket, has always presented to the billfoldmanufacturer a problem, since the inner wall tends to bulge when thebillfold is being folded.

In order to alleviate this condition, the stay was developed, which is apliable connecting piece between two portions of the inner wall. Varioustypes of stays have been proposed, most of them being in slidingconnection between the inner wall portions, so that the length of theinner wall varies between a maximum length at unfolding and a minimumlength at folding. However, such constructions were deficient thereinthat the stay sometimes did not slide properly and hence the bulge,which was intended to be eliminated thereby, reappeared.

Other variations included a stay that was securely attached between theinner wall portions, at a reduced length, to prevent bulging at alltimes. However, this feature brought about the deficiency that thecrease region of the outer cover was always concealed behind the stay,making operations in that region either impossible or at leastcumbersome and hence expensive.

It is therefore among the principal aims of the invention to provide areceptacle of the type re ferred to that is simple and inexpensive tomanufacture, and that has a stay that presents a short inner wall uponunfolding and at the same time slides against an inner wall portion, andhas a mechanism that assures such sliding at folding, while permittingtemporary partial removal of the stay to expose the-crease region thatis normally concealed behind the stay.

With the above andother objects of the invention in 'view, the inventionconsists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination ofvarious devices, elements and parts, as set forth in the claims hereof,one embodiment of the same being illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings and described in the specification,

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will be best understoodfrom the following description-of exemplifications thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a receptacle, in accordance with theinvention, showing it in unfolded position, with the latch mechanismsreleased; I

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, showing the iiiside of the receptacle butwith the latch closed;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, taken along the secant line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a blank of a piece of the inner wall;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the inner wall piece shown in Fig. 4, but aftera folding and heat impression operation; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view, similar to Fig. 1, but showing the stay inposition bent backwards to expose the crease region of the outer cover.

Referring to Figs. 1-3, there is provided a receptacle, generallyindicated at II, that comprises an outer cover I2, that may, forinstance, be composed of two layers I3 and I4, for instance of pliablematerial. A slide fastener I6, that includes a flexible strip I'I,surrounds the contour of the outer cover I2, and the strip I! may bestitched or otherwise fastened between the layers I3 and I I of theouter cover.

The outer cover I2 has two sections, a first section I8 (shown on theright hand side in Fig. I) and a second section I9 (on the left side inFig. 1), and they are foldable-about a crease that is disposed in acrease region ZI therebetween.

In order to provide for complete opening of the receptacle, the slidefastener l 6 forms in the upper part of the crease region 2| a recess22. In attaching the strip l'I between the layers I3 and I4, forsecuring of the slide fastener It to the cover I2, the stitching row 23accordingly is off-set, near the recess 22, to follow the contour of theouter cover.

An inner wall is provided, generally designated 24; it comprises a firstportion 26 that is stitched with its outer edge 21 and itslower edge 28to the cover section I8, and a second portion 29 that is stitched withits outer edge 3I and itslower edge 32 to the section I9 of theoutercover I2, as best shown in Fig. 6. The second portion 29 constitutes aflat pocket open towards the inside and the pocket 33 is provided nearits outer edge and in the upper part 34 thereof witha slot 36 that hasan edge 31. The pockets may be made of one piece or of several attachedpieces. Since the portion 29 is fastened to the section I9, and the slot31 is formed in the upper part 34 and is thus spaced from the sectionI9, the edge 31 is thereby in position connected to thesection I9 but.spaced therefrom.

The said first portion 26 of the inner wall 24, as best shown in Figs. 4and 5, is in its main part formed from a single blank that substantiallyoccupies the area of a rectangle. This rectangular shape permits cuttingof the blank without any appreciable amount of waste. The blank has amain section 38 and has, along the axis :c-a: thereof a first projectionon flap 39, that extends laterally of the main section. An extension 4|is furthermore provided on the main section 38, and also a secondprojection on flap 42 that has an extension 43, which can be bent abouttwo aligned cuts 44. The extension 39 has a pointed portion 46 on theaxial line x-r. and also has a similarly pointed second portion that maybe bent about a cut 48. The second flap 42 may be bent over the firstflap 39, into superposition thereof, about a cut 49.

In a first operation for preparing the said first portion 26 of theinner billfold wall 24, the second pointed portion is folded about thecut 49 over the pointedportion 46, and the extension 43 is folded aboutthe cuts 44 back on the first flap 42 for superposition thereon;thereafter, the parts so bent are attached permanently to maintain theirsuperposition for the purpose of reinforcement. Such attachment'can beby heatsealing where, in a preferred embodiment all the parts of theblank are made of thermoplastic material, or by any other suitablemethod of attachment. Then, the second fiap 42 is bent about the cut 49into superposition with the first 'fiap 39 and, in the preferredembodiment, the middle section of the portion 26 is provided by heatsealing with ridges to permeate the position of the flaps 42 and 39 andto promote flexibility of the middle section 5|; simultaneously, in thesame operation, there is also heat-impressed into the extension 4| apattern of grooves 52, and a prepared cover 53 is heat-sealed onto themain section 39. The cover 53 carries apart 5'4 of a releasablefastening means, such as latching or locking means of the snap fastenertype, designed to match with another part 56 of said fastening meansthat is inserted subsequently in predetermined position on the extension4|.

The pointed portions are provided with openings 57 that are brought inregistry by the superposition of the portions, and the secondflap 42 hasan opening 58 that, after superposition .over the fiap 39 is alignedwith the openings 5.! on the axis a:--a:, though it is spacedtherefrom,as best shown in Fig. 5.

The registered openings 51, on one hand, and the opening 58 on the otherhand, are adapted to receive cooperating parts of a snap fastener, 59and 6|, respectively.

After the snap fastener parts 54 and 56, 59 and 6|, are attached, thefirst portion 26, and also the said second portion 29, of the innerwall-24, are stitched or otherwise fastened, onto the outer cover l2.During this operation, the two layers I3 and M of the outer cover are,at-the same time being stitched together, and the strip fastenedtherebetween. All this canbe accomplished with a single stitchingoperation along the stitching line 23.

The adjacent flaps 39 and 42 which are permanently fastened togetheralong the middle portion 5| of the portion 26 form the bifurcated stayof the billfold.

In order to guide the stitching needle through the offset part of theline23 near the'rec'ess '22, as pointed out before, the stay is heldaway from the crease region 2|, as illustrated in Fig. 6. This isnecessary because, as can be seen in Figs. 1 and 2, the stay would inits normal position conceal at least a part of the off-set portion ofthe stitch line 23; with the stay in normal position, the stitching ofthe off-set portion would be difficult; however, the stitch can quitesimply be completed by this temporary removal of the stay.

The pointed portions, as will be well understood, are so dimensionedthat after they are fastened together, constituting the pointed end 46of the flap 39, it will pass through, and slide in, the slot 36 (Fig.1). This pointed end 46 will be inserted through the inner opening intothe pocket 33 and thence through the slot 36, for snap fastenerattachment to the flap 42.

As most clearly shown in Fig. 3, the pointed end 46 of the flap 39 willengage the edge 31 of the slot 36. The slot 36 and its edge 3'! are sopositioned, and the portion 26 is so dimensioned, and also the distancebetween the openings 51 and 58 is so predetermined, that when the flaps39 and 42 are fastened together by the snap fastener parts 59 and 5|,the portion 26 will be tensioned against the outer cover I2, and thecrease region 2| of the cover be spaced from the middle section 5| ofthe portion 26 when the billfold is unfolded, as best shown in Fig. 3.

When the billfold is beingfolded, however, the tension force exercisedbetween the edge 31 of the slot 36 and the pointed end 46 of the fiap39, will cease, and the pointed end 46 will slide in the slot. Therebybulging of the inner billfold wall will effectively be prevented.

After the billfold has been completely assembled, the inner wall 24 willform with the outer wall i2 a pocket. Also, there is provided a pocketbetween the main section 38 and the prepared cover 53, that can beclosed by means of the extension 4|. The flap extension 43, furthermore,is provided with two cuts for receiving an article, such as a key, asshown in Fig. 6.

The said second portion may, as shown in Fig. 1, furthermore be providedwith pocket forming members, such as transparent envelopes 63,that maybe, at least in part, integral with the portion 29, or that may befastened thereon, and these envelopes are held closed in an envelopecompartment by the fastening of the two flaps 39 and 42 to each other.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and differentembodiments of the invention could be made without departing from thescope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the abovedescription or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpretedasillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim as new'and desire tobe secured by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. In a receptacle-having a foldable outer cover including two sectionsfoldable about a crease, in combination with, a wall havinga portionsecured to one of said sections and a second portion movable between apocket forming .position adjacent the other of said sections and acrosssaid crease and respectively a second position away therefrom to exposecompletely said crease, said second portion comprising two parts,latching means for releasably latching said parts together positively insaid first position of said second portion, said other section includingan extensionhaving an edge disposed adjacent said other section andspaced therefrom to admit therebetween said first part for insertiontherethrough prior to attachment to said other part, said edge being sopositioned and said parts being so dimensioned that upon latching saidwall will be tensioned and said crease be spaced therefrom when saidouter cover is unfolded.

2. In a receptacle of the character described, the combination with afoldable outer cover, of an inner structure comprising a first wallforming with said outer cover a pocket, said wall being secured to saidouter cover and forming a slot including an edge, and a second wallsecured to said outer cover oppositely relative to the said first walland including a bifurcated portion having two parts, one part thereofextending over said first wall, and the other part extending into saidpocket and through said slot, and positive latching means for releasablysecuring said parts, said parts being so dimensioned and the edge ofsaid slot being so positioned that upon latching said second wall willbe pro-tensioned relative to said outer unfolded cover.

3. In a receptacle, including a foldable outer cover having twosections, in combination, a first wall secured to one of said sectionsand including a slot near the outer edge of said section, a second wallsecured to the other of said sections and including a bifurcated portionnormally unattached to said other section, one of the parts of saidbifurcated portion extending through said slot, and the other part ofsaid bifurcatedportion extending over said-first wall and arranged to bedetachably secured to said one part of said-bifurcated portion extendingthrough said slot, whereby said second wall will be tensioned annormally be spaced from the major portion of said outer unfolded cover.

4. In a receptacle having an outer cover including two sections foldableabout a crease, a wall formed from a single blank having a portionsecured to one of said sections, a second portion opposite said firstportion, and a third portion folded to lie adjacent said second portion,all of said portions substantially covering the area of a rectangle inblank form, said second and third portions having cooperating releasablelatching means, said wall having an edge disposed opposite said secondsection and spaced therefrom to admit therebetween a portion forinsertion therethrough prior to latching with another portion, said edgebeing so positioned and said portions being so dimensioned that uponlatching said wall will be tensioned and said 6 crease be spacedtherefrom when said cover is unfolded.

5. In a receptacle of the character described, having an outer coverincluding two sections foldable about a crease region, in combinationwith, a wall comprising a portion secured to one of said sections and asecond portion foldable against said first and being movable andnormally extending across said crease to the other of said sections andcomprising two parts, said parts having locking means operable forlatching releasably the said two parts, said other section including anextension having an edge opposite said other section and spacedtherefrom to form therewith a passage for receiving in sliding relationone of said parts extending through said passage and operablesubsequently to be latched to said second part to tension said wall whensaid cover is unfolded, and said second portion sliding against saidother section when said cover is being folded, said second portion beingfoldable towards said first portion upon latch release to expose saidcrease region.

6. In a receptacle, as claimed in claim 5, in combination with, saidpassage having a restricted area and said part extending therethroughhaving a width sufficiently small to extend into the same and to slidetherein, said portions, in the latched position, forming with the coversections a pocket.

FRANK G. DOBBS. STEPHAN H. DOBBS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,542,124 Halvorsen et a1. June16, 1925 1,561,343 Michaels Nov. 10, 1925 1,694,186 LEnfant Dec. 4, 19281,944,345 Hughes Jan. 23, 1934 2,004,672 Pentz June 11, 1935 2,024,363Hughes Dec. 17, 1935 2,337,967 Broughton Dec. 28, 1943 2,350,503 GardnerJune 6, 1944 2,387,490 Becker Oct. 23, 1945 2,473,056 Henderson June 14,1949 2,484,135 Wege Oct. 11, 1949 2,489,364 Broughton Nov. 29, 19492,504,248 Broughton Apr. 18, 1950 2,566,452 Kersten Sept. 4, 19512,596,131 Darby et a1 May 13, 1952

